What is 2FA and how is it better for your smartphone?

Can you imagine the olden era without cellphones?! The communication was not instant, and the word cybersecurity didn’t really exist! Post that, cybersecurity was only associated with PC and its users. But today, one needs to protect their PC and mobile phones from data breaches and cyber-attacks.

Given that phones before didn’t run on the internet, a cyber threat wasn’t possible. We all have seen in movies how smart spies always use an old keypad phone to ‘stay off the grid.’ Because smart phones are well, prone to breaches for data or other malicious elements.

Doesn’t matter if you are using a postpaid sim or a prepaid one, your sim stores a lot of your personal data. Additionally, your smartphone might have saved card data along with CVV, your passwords, and other confidential information. Therefore, you need to secure your phone using every possible cybersecurity practice. 2FA or Two-Factor Authentication is one such effective method.

Today, we will learn more about what is 2FA and how it can protect your smartphones, your online transactions, and more from a potential cyber threat or attack. So, let’s dive into it!

What is 2FA?

We have all heard stories of people getting their social media accounts hacked or phone data breached! Although we set a password for all our login activity, it can sometimes be the weakest link. Most of the passwords are either easily guessed or can be obtained using any malicious code or virus. Sometimes, users can go for days or months without knowing that their password has been compromised.

Therefore, one needs to add multiple layers of security along with username/password combo.

We will discuss how 2FA works further in the article. But before moving on, you need to understand the process used in authenticating a user.

Methods involved in authenticating a user

There are 2 primary methods involved for authenticating a user. They are mentioned as follows:

Knowledge

Here, knowledge refers to knowing your credentials: username and password. This is something the user knows. Anyone who knows the username and password is given the pass to login and view personal details.

Possession

This method uses a tool which user possesses. The possession of the tool can help in the login. It can be the user’s mobile phone, a security token, etc.

Inherence

Inherence is rather an expensive or less used way of authenticating a person. It involves usage of biometrics or fingerprints.

To explain with an example, if you have an account with a unique username and password which nobody else knows, only you can login into your account. All you need to do is enter your username and password to authenticate yourself. The ‘knowledge’ of the username and password helps you to authenticate.

Secondly, your mobile phone receives a notification with a unique number or character for logging in. Only you can use your phone to use the unique number or accept/deny a login request.

Thirdly, your fingerprints and biometrics trait are unique to you. No one can duplicate it. Therefore, by using your unique traits, you are authenticating to access personal data.

2FA is basically adding a second level of authentication or security above these primary authentication methods. Most of the companies these days offer 2FA for Knowledge and Possession authentication methods because they are easier to implement than any inherence method.

With 2FA, a unique passcode or OTP is generated after entering the username/password or authentication of a security code/phone. This passcode is sent to the user via mail, SMS, or voice. Users can obtain this passcode using the following token methods:

• SMS
• Mail
• Voice
• PC
• Phone

We hope now you know how 2FA works. Many apps also offer 3FA level of security to protect you and your phone online better.

Now, let’s see some advantages of 2FA or Two-Factor authentication.

Benefits of 2FA

Two levels of security can help you as an individual and employee both.

Better security

As we have mentioned before, 2FA gives better security for your smartphone and apps. By asking a second form of identification, it is difficult for a hacker to pretend to be the user and gain access to personal data. Even if the hacker has somehow got the access to the password, they can’t get access to SMS sent code on the original user’s phone.

Work securely on the go

With 2FA level of security in place, employees can access confidential data without any fear of compromising corporate’s confidential information.

Well, you can now upgrade to Airtel 5G network or any other 5G network soon. With better speed, your tasks will become heavily dependent on internet and smartphone. Therefore, you need to create a secure online and offline environment for yourself to protect your personal and confidential data.